Substance abuse board game apparatus and method of play

Abstract

A board game apparatus is provided for educating the players about the consequences of the use of drugs and alcohol. Broadly, the invention comprises a game board having a playing path, a plurality of movable game pieces, a random number generator (a conventional six-sided die), a plurality of decks of question cards, a deck of penalty cards, and a plurality of challenge tokens. The playing path is formed by a plurality of segments or spaces, each of which is provided with an identifying indicia corresponding to an identifying indicia of either one of the decks of question cards or the deck of penalty cards and a plurality of corner penalty segments. The playing path is a modified, substantially inwardly disposed spiral having an outer level, an intermediate level and an inner level. The outer level consists of a plurality of four different randomly disposed segments and the corner penalty spaces; the intermediate level consists of a plurality of five different randomly disposed segments and the corner penalty spaces; and the inner level consists of a plurality of six different randomly disposed segments and the corner penalty spaces.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for playing a substance abuse game board apparatus wherein players are educationally informed about substance abuse during a competitive environment, the game board apparatus comprising a game board having a playing surface, a plurality of movable game pieces, a random number generator, a plurality of challenge chips, a plurality of decks of question cards and a deck of penalty cards, the playing surface consisting of a plurality of playing segments and a plurality of corner penalty segments defining a substantially inwardly disposed spiral pathway extending from a starting position through successive levels to a counselor position, the method comprising: giving each player a challenge chip prior to commencement of the game;   positioning a plurality of game pieces on a designated starting square of the game board;   obtaining a number from the random generator;   moving one of the playing pieces, in player turn, a selected number of spaces along the pathway as indicated by the random number generator, each of the segments, other than the corner penalty segments, having an identifying indicia corresponding to an identifying indicia of the decks of question cards and the deck of penalty cards;   selecting a card from the deck of cards corresponding to the indicia of the segment to which the playing piece has been moved;   answering the question on a card selected from the deck of question cards prior to movement of the game piece a selected number of spaces along the playing path as indicated by the random number generator when a correct answer is given to the question;   passing play to another player when an incorrect answer is given;   following the instructions on the penalty corner segments when the game piece is moved to such a penalty corner segment and, unless otherwise instructed, passing play to another player;   moving the game piece as required by a penalty card when the game piece is moved to a space bearing the identifying indicia corresponding to the identifying indicia of the deck of penalty cards and thereafter passing the die to the next player;   challenging a selected player one time during play of the game, prior to entry into the "counselor" position, in order to attempt to exchange the position of the challenging player's game piece on the playing path with the position of the challenged player's game piece on the playing path, the challenge being successful if the challenging player answers questions from question cards selected by the challenged player from a majority of the decks of question cards, the challenge being unsuccessful if the challenging player is unable to answer to each of the questions whereupon the game piece of the challenging player is moved to the starting position on the game board;   progressing along the playing path until correctly obtaining a number from the random number generator to permit the game piece to enter into the "counselor" position; and   answering questions on a card drawn from each of the decks of question cards to be declared winner of the game.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: passing the die to another player when incorrectly answering one of the questions drawn from each of the decks of question cards when the player's game piece is in the "counselor" space; and   answering the missed question on the player's next turn in order to be declared the winner of the game.   
     
     
       3. A substance abuse game board apparatus for educationally informing players about substance abuse, the apparatus comprising: a game board having a playing surface defining a pathway between a start position and a counselor position, the pathway consisting of a plurality of segments and corner penalty spaces, each of the segments having an identifying indicia;   a plurality of game pieces corresponding to a number of players, the game pieces movable in player turn selected distances along the pathway between the start position and the counselor position;   a random number generator for determining the selected distance one of the game pieces is moved in player turn, wherein the random number generator is a six-sided die;   a plurality of decks of question cards, each of the decks of question cards having an identifying indicia corresponding to the identifying indicia of a portion of the segments of the pathway; and   a deck of penalty cards having an identifying indicia corresponding to the identifying indicia of a second portion of the segments of the path;   challenge means for challenging another player during the course of the game, the challenge means comprising a plurality of chips, one each of which being issued to each player to permit the player to challenge another player during the course of the game such that if the challenge is successful, the positions of the players' game pieces are exchanged on the pathway, the challenge player correctly answers questions from question cards selected from a majority of the decks of question cards; said pathway is a modified, substantially inwardly disposed spiral having an outer level, an intermediate level, and an inner level, each level having a plurality of segments, and wherein the outer level consists of a plurality of four different identifying indicia randomly disposed on the segments of said outer level and an identifying indicia on the corner penalty space, the intermediate level consists of a plurality of five different indicia randomly disposed on the segments of said intermediate level and an identifying indicia on the corner penalty spaces and the inner level consists of a plurality of six different identifying indicia randomly disposed on the segments of said inner level and an identifying indicia on the corner penalty spaces.